The Primate Mind: Built to Connect with Other Minds

407 Pages·2012·11.84 MB·English

by  Frans B. M. de Waal

•

THE PRIMATE MIND
Built to Connect with Other Minds
Edited by Frans B. M. de Waal and Pier Francesco Ferrari
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Frans B. M. de Waal and Pier Francesco Ferrari
Al! rights reserved
Printed in the Uniteci States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The primate mind : built to connect with other minds I edited by Frans B. M. de
Waal and Pier Francesco Ferrari
p. cm.
Based on a meeting held June 4-7, 2009, at the Ettore Majorana Center in
Erice, Sicily, Italy.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-05804-0 (alk. paper)
1. Primates-Psychology. 2. Socia! psychology. 3. Neuropsychology.
4. Psychology, Comparative. 5. Comparative neurobiology. I. Waal, F. B. M.
de (Frans B. M.), 1948- II. Ferrari, Pier Francesco.
QL737.P9P67259 2011
599.8'1513-dc23 2011016094
Contents
Preface ix
Frans B. M. de Waal and Pier Francesco Ferrari
1 A Bottom~Up Approach to the Primate Mind 1
Frans B. M. de Waal and Pier Francesco Ferrari
SECTION ONE
From Understanding of the Actions of Others to Culture 11
2 The Mirror Neuron System in Monkeys and Its
Implications for Social Cognitive Functions 13
Pier Francesco Ferrari and Leonardo Fogassi
3 The Human Mirror Neuron System and Its Role in Imitation
and Empathy 32
Marco Iacoboni
4 Socia! Rules and Body Scheme 48
Naotaka Fujii and Atsushi Iriki
5 What, Whom, and How: Selectivity in Socia! Learning 65
Ludwig Huber
6 Learning How to Forage: Socially Biased Individua! Learning
and "Niche Construction" in Wild Capuchin Monkeys 81
Elisabetta Visalberghi and Dorothy Fragaszy
I
vi CONTENTS
--~----------~~----~·-····---·
7 Social Learning and Culture in Child and Chimpanzee 99
Lydia M. Hopper, Sarah Marshall-Pescini, and Andrew Whiten
SECTION TWO
Empathy, Perspective Taking, and Cooperation 119
8 A Bottom-Up View of Empathy 121
Frans B. M. de Waal
9 What Does the Primate Mind Know about Other Minds? A
Review of Primates' Understanding of Visual Attention 139
Aprii M. Ruiz and Laurie R. Santos
10 Human Empathy through the Lens of Psychology and Social
Neuroscience 158
Tania Singer and Grit Hein
11 How Much of Our Cooperative Behavior Is Human? 175
Brian Hare and Jingzhi Tan
12 Fetal Testosterone in Mind: Human Sex Differences
and Autism 194
Bonnie Auyeung and Simon Baron-Cohen
SECTION THREE
Memory, Emotions, and Communication 209
13 The Role of Broca's Area in Socio-Communicative Processes of
Chimpanzees 211
William D. Hopkins and ]ared P. Taglia/ate/a
14 Emotional Engagement: How Chimpanzee Minds
Develop 224
KimA. Bard
15 Distress Alleviation in Monkeys and Apes: A Window into the
Primate Mind? 246
Filippo Aure/i and Orlaith N. Fraser
16 Enquiries Concerning Chimpanzee Understanding 265
Charles R. Menzel and Emi! W. Menzel Jr.
CONTENTS vii
-------------
17 What Is Uniquely Human? A View from Comparative
Cognitive Development in Humans and Chimpanzees 288
Tetsuro Matsuzawa
I
References 307
Contributors 379
Index 381

Preface
The Primate Mind seeks to inject the study of primate and human cogni
tion with a new perspective, one less concerned with cognitive "rankings"
among humans, apes, monkeys, canines, corvids, and other nonprimates,
but rather with the nuts and bolts of cognition: the way it works. The
focus is on the way the mind interacts with other minds in terms of emo
tional and cognitive connections, such as empathy, imitation, cultura! learn
ing, and cooperation. Primates are intensely socia!, hence continuously chal
lenged to compete with, work with, or understand each other. Their brains
have been designed for socia! connection.
From June 4 through 7, 2009, about one hundred participants gathered
at the Ettore Majorana Center located in Erice, a city on a 750-meter-high
mountaintop in Sicily, Italy, with a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean.
A curious location given that we like to look at our new approach as a
bottom-up perspective! Sixteen prominent speakers (Figure 0.1), who con
tributed to the present volume, were asked to cover primate cognition
from all possible angles. The challenge was to analyze the cognitive pro
cesses underlying socia! interaction, some of which may be very basic and
widespread and emerge early in human development, while others may
be more advanced, even uniquely human. How do primates perceive and
interpret each other's motor actions, how do they perceive and interpret
each other's emotional states and situations, and how does this informa
tion in turn influence complex socia! interaction? What are the develop
mental landmarks of these processes? Are there neural structures and
mechanisms that underpin all of them?
PREFACE
The interaction between neuroscience and primatology (or ethology)
proved extremely stimulating, visible in discussions throughout the day
as well as over dinners in the locai restaurants. Requests for more intel
lectual gatherings like this have been forthcoming, such as a biannual
series at the Ettore Majorana Center. The center was a most appropriate
venue, as it is dedicated to higher intellectual endeavors and is a regular
meeting point for scientists from all over the world. Professor Antonino
Zichichi, its director, and Professor Danilo Mainardi, director of the In
ternational School of Ethology at the University of Venice, deserve our
gratitude for making possible this memorable meeting of minds.
In order to preserve the element of interdisciplinary exchange, chapters
ha ve been ordered in this volume along theoretical topics rather than re
search methodologies. The first section ("From Understanding of the
Actions of Others to Culture") covers themes around social learning,
beginning with the neuroscience of how others are perceived and how
Figure 0.1. Speakers at the 2009 Erice conference, including speakers in the junior session
and session chairs Top row, from left to right: Erin Hecht, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Tetsuro
Matsuzawa, Andrew Whiten, Christophe Boesch, Brian Hare, Charles Menzel, Atsushi Iriki,
Simon Baron-Cohen, Marco lacoboni, Elisabetta Palagi, Teresa Romero, Laurie Santos.
Bottbm row: Frans de Waal, Ludwig Huber, Filippo Aureli, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Antonino
Casile, Stephen Suomi, William Hopkins. Photographer unknown.